Blogging Aloud

Hi there,

Welcome to Blogging Aloud - the blog of write-out-loud.com.

This is where you get the latest headlines, (and just a little bit more to tell you what it's about), from new pages as they're posted. See the entries below to see what I mean.

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Impromptu Speech Topics

Here's a set of impromptu speech topics themed around books with extremely odd titles.
(Yes, the titles are real. Google 'odd book titles' and all will be revealed!)

I used them at my Toastmaster's Club recently. As a set-up I announced we were at a book fair and that we were all writers of extraordinary works and as such it was our challenge to sell our book to would-be book sellers. Each speaker was given a title for which they had to provide a synopsis, say who their intended audience was and why they had written the work. The results were wonderful impromptu speeches full of laughter.

• Attractive and Affectionate Grave Design
• God's Chewable Vitamin C for the Spirit
• A Theory of Shopping
• Tractors and The Men who Love Them
• Beyond Leaf Raking
• Weeds in a Changing World
• Let's Get Primitive - The Urban Girl's Guide to Camping
• Life on the Refrigerator Door - a Novel in Notes
• Born Standing Up
• Unscrewed - The Consumer's Guide to Getting What You Paid For
• Across Europe on Kangaroos
• Lightweight Sandwich Construction
• The Making of a Moron
• The Haunted Tea Cosy
• Interpersonal Violence: The Practical Series
• From Coherent Tunnelling to Relaxation

I hope you have fun with them too!

For another 10 themed impromptu speech topic ideas please click the link below.

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How to give a BORING speech

Here's a fail-safe tip! Use it and you'll have the desired result - nobody listening or caring to a word you say.

The tip is - include EVERYTHING.
Do not discriminate or select a few important points of interest. Give your audience the lot!

Sometimes in an attempt to be thorough, to demonstrate your depth of knowlege or simply to share your passion for your subjectthe temptation to tell absolutely everything you know is too much to resist. Unfortunately the end result over-loads your audience and when that happens ears switch off. If you haven't made a choiceabout what is important, interesting, or exciting for your audience to know then neither will they. Instead some will be bored, others puzzled and a lot more bewildered.

To avoid information overload consider your audience and the purpose of your presentation.

• Are you there to inform, entertain, or demonstrate?
• What do you want the audience to know, do and feel as a result of hearing your presentation?
• How much does the audience know already about your subject?
• What do they need to know to enable them to act as you want them to at the conclusion of your speech?

Let your answers to those questions be your guide as you prepare.
Putting everything indiscriminatly into a presentation serves no one well.

By pass the risk of boring your audience by planning.
Click the link to find out more about planning your speech.

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Eulogy for my Brother

Eulogy for my Brother - Jose Juan Ornelas Ben wrote about why he decided to share his eulogy for his brother in an email to me. His reasons are posted

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Grandmother Eulogy

In many families, grandparents are a somewhat abstract concept; there are pictures of them around the house, you might get a birthday card in the mail,

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How to give a great self introduction speech

One of commonest ways of breaking the ice in a new group is to have each member give a brief self introduction speech.

Usually the leader will start and around the group you go, one by one. What do you say? What will interest people? And more importantly if you're anxious, what will stop the fear of making a fool of yourself?

First impressions count so let's look at the elements that go together to make a good self-introductory speech.

• Stating your name clearly
• Placing yourself - where you are from, the organisation you belong to, the position you currently hold
• Background - what can you share that is related to the group's core purpose for meeting? Is it an event, experience, a particular skill or educational qualification?
• Interest, passion or goal - what particularly interests you? What drives you? What is the personal goal you want to achieve within this group?
• Sharing personal details - hobbies or pet peeves
• Unity - what do you share in common with someone else in the group?

If you'd like to find out more about how these combine to form a speech please click the link below. You'll find an example self-introductory speech too!

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How to give an introduction speech for a guest speaker

You will have sat through introduction speeches that made you yawn. They were probably cobbled together at the last minute and although not intended to detract from the guest speaker, they didn't exactly boost or welcome them either.

To avoid the boring introduction speech trap read on.

Tips to make your introduction speech successful

• Consider tone and language use. Is what you've prepared appropriate for the occasion, audience and your guest speaker? Have you avoided cliche?
• Check the length of your speech. Pertinent and pithy - short and sweet is what you want. One to two minutes should be enough.
• Do not exaggerate or 'puff' the speaker's achievements in a way that may embarrass them or cause the audience to question their right to be there.
• Always check your facts and if you wish to mention something that may be sensitive ask permission before you announce it in front of an audience.
• Cover only enough in your introduction to make the coming speech eagerly anticipated. Do not stray into telling the audience what the guest speaker's speech will cover in detail.
• Practice out loud until you are confidently fluent and able to convey the pleasure or enthusiasm the audience needs to get them in the right frame of mind.

Get the full information on preparing a great introduction speech by clicking the link below.

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Dr Suess and the Art of Getting It Right Out Loud

Have you been told you don't have enough vocal variety in your voice?
Or even more bluntly, that you are boring to listen to?

Reading aloud is an answer that's hard to go passed. It will teach you so much about using your voice effectively. And the best part? Reading aloud is so much FUN. If you have children, they'll love it.
(My son adored Dr Suess-Ten Apples Up on Top, The Lorax, Green Eggs and Ham...)
If you don't, read aloud to your partner or yourself.
What you'll learn through practice is how to:

• judge speaking rate - where to speed up, where to slow down
• speak clearly
• uses pauses for emphasis and drama
• vary pitch, tone and volume to demonstrate or show emotion or characters
• use the beat or rhythm of words
• respond to an audience (even if it is only one or two) while speaking - eye contact, smile...
• use body language to underpin or illustrate your story

Write-Out-Loud has resources for learning more about using your voice too. You'll find specific suggestions for:

• developing vocal variety
• using pauses
• developing a flexible speaking rate
• speaking clearly

Do you have favorite reading aloud books or perhaps a tip to share?

Let's hear about them.

Submit your comments on our Tips and Speeches page.

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The Power of Repeating Oneself, Repeating Onself, Repeating Oneself...

Here's a song fragment. I can almost guarantee you'll be singing the remainder of it before you've completed reading it.
'We all live in a ... ...'*
And here's another that's almost universal: ' Happy birthday ... ...'
They're called refrains or choruses and repeat throughout the duration of the song.

Repetitions are part of many forms of communication: oral and written story telling, poetry, advertizing and speech writing.

The repeated phrase has the effect of reinforcing and strengthening a theme or message. When used well it will continue to echo on in the minds of the audience long after the speaker has finished.

Here's a few famous examples to illustrate:
The inspirational orator and Prime Minister of Britain throughout World War Two, Winston Churchill, used the phrase We shall ... in his 1940 " We shall fight them on the beaches" speech eleven times. His use of the word 'we' drew his audience together bonding them as a single entity, strong and united in their resolve. Each repetition of 'we shall' reinforced the last, building to the final powerful assertion.

1. we shall not flag or fail
2. We shall go on to the end
3. we shall fight in France
4. we shall fight on the seas and oceans
5. we shall fight with growing confidence...
6. we shall defend our Island
7. we shall fight on the beaches
8. we shall fight on the landing grounds
9. we shall fight in the fields and in the streets
10. we shall fight in the hills
11. we shall never surrender

In 1963 Martin Luther King gave a speech now known as 'I have a dream' (Click the link to watch.) He uses two repeated phrases to anchor and reinforce his theme of racial equality: 'I have a dream' and 'Let freedom ring'. 'I have a dream' is ranked at number one of America's top one hundred speeches.

And one more example of repetition, this time from US President Barack Obama.
The phrase 'Yes we can' became an integral part of his pre-presidential election campaign. It was in his speeches, on his bill boards, and made into a song that went viral on the net. 'Yes we can' became a mantra, a rallying call.

The lesson is simple and powerfully effective. In a motivational or persuasive speech repetition consciously and carefully used can nail home your message.

The next time you're preparing a presentaton to inspire or persuade, try it!

PS. The first song fragment is from the Beatle's classic 'We all live in a yellow submarine'. (Yes, I know - I'm showing my age!) The second is 'Happy Birthday to you'.

Getting Feedback to Improve your Public Speaking

You're standing in front of the audience. You've prepared your speech well. You've made sure its relevant, that it flows well and is neither too short or too long.

Now that you are delivering the speech something you hadn't planned for is happening. They're not listening. They're bored. Their faces are blank. Where are the smiles and nods of agreement?

That's what you think but it isn't necessarily true.

Without direct and structured feedback it's tempting to fill the blank with negative self-talk. Rushing to a conclusion that your presentation was a flop or a failure because you didn't see or hear whatyou expected to is hugely undermining. Do that to yourself too many times and you reduce the possibility of real improvement. Instead your focus becomes survival - getting through the ordeal.

But there is a way to change the 'speaking-to-a-void' experience and that is to organise formal feedback across measurable meaningful elements.
Although better than silence general luke-warm or positive comments are not helpful either if you genuinelywant to lift the quality of your speeches. 'OK', 'good' or 'excellent' tell you nothing more than your presentation was reasonably well received. Broad brush strokedescriptors give you nothing to work on. How do you know what to improve or tweak if everything is alright?

Before your next presentation or speech organize somebody to give you written feedback AND decide what elements you want comments on.
Choose a person whose judgement you trust and who has sufficient experience to evaluate your performance helpfully. Make the approach well ahead of your speech to give yourselves time to discuss whatis going to be evaluated and how.

Examples.

• You know you frequently say 'um' or 'err' when thinking of the next thing you want to say. You've been practicing substituting a pause and would like confirmation that you have improved. Your feedback person or evaluatorcan keep a running tally through your speech to give to you at the end.
• You tend to clasp your hands awkwardly and rock on your feet. The evaluator will note if and where that occurred in your speech.
• Transitions or moving from one major point to the next have proved tricky in the past. Your evaluator will listen and watch to see how effective they are.

Organized feedback lets you know where you need to focus your energy. Without it you can flounder around not knowing what's going on. You can imagine, quite without foundation, that you're either worse or betterthan you actually are!

For those of you who are serious about improving your public speaking skills you'll find this page on speech evaluation invaluable.
There's a downloadable, printable, easy-to-use speech evaluation checklist as well as suggestions about how to use it effectively.

Speech evaluation: an essential part of successful public speaking

Speech evaluation gives you vital information about how to improve your public speaking. Find out how speeches are rated, what aspects are covered in a thorough assessment & download the form

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Famous American Speech - 'I have a Dream'

Video of the famous American speech 'I have a Dream' by Martin Luther King

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Overcome Fear or Anxiety of Public Speaking

Overcome fear or anxiety of public speaking. Tips on how to write and give successful speeches: eulogies, wedding and birthday speeches, presentations…Source quotations and poems.

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Likes, dislikes and Facebook

OK, here goes - a slice of truth.

I've been procrastinating about joining Facebook. All those 'likes' and 'dislikes' reminded me of my early adolescence. And even though that was humpty-nine years ago the tyranny of the pastel-paged autograph book lives on.

For those of you don't understand an autograph book was small, hard backed and filled with blank lemon, pale pink, green or blue pages. They were a girl thing. Your friends wrote in them: special messages pledging their unwavering love, support and admiration '4 eva'. Translated that meant until the new fad took over.

The first goal was to fill your book. The second was to tell everyone and the third was to begin a new one.

There were new friends, old friends, best friends, and for the daring even BOY friends. Liking and disliking was a powerful social currency at 14 years old. The passage between social inclusion or exclusion could be swift and brutal and yet here I am once more.

This time it's not pallid pink paper and a leaky fountain pen but a quick click.

I hope you join me, not because I need you to boost a fragile self esteem but because you find value in the information on offer and want to share it!

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Breathe to Clear Public Speaking Fear

Breathing sounds too simple to be an effective method for shifting public speaking fear doesn't it? But it works.

When we're extremely anxious we tend to either hold our breath or breathe very shallowly off the top of our lungs. The result is we prolong and heighten the physical discomfort brought on by acute anxiety.

You can short circuit by breathing properly.

Stand up.

Place your feet a shoulder width apart and put one hand on your belly. Now breathe in deeply.

Imagine the breath coming in through the soles of your feet and traveling all the way up your body to the very top of your head. At the same time count to four slowly. Hold the breath for a moment before releasing, again to the count of four.

On your out-breath imagine all the negativity and anxiety draining away from your body. Feel it leaving from the top of your head to your toes.

Repeat the in and out breath to the count of four at least four times. When you've finished shake your arms, wriggle your shoulders and let the feeling of ease settle in.

For a variation try increasing the count to five or six and adding 'color' to your breath in your imagination.

Choose a color to invigorate and cleanse you and feel it flowing through every cell in your body on your in-breath count.

Choose another color to carry away all the negative energy on your out-breath.

NB. You'll know when you're doing this correctly because the hand you've placed on your stomach will rise and fall with your in and out breaths. If it doesn't move, try breathing more deeply until it does.

For more exercises and suggestions to help overcome fear of public speaking click acute anxiety help .

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Speaking-Out-Loud - the monthly ezine

Speaking-Out-Loud - an ezine chock full of practical public speaking tips

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Farewell Speeches - Say goodbye with style

Farewell speeches: how to write the perfect goodbye speech

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Use a free retirement speech or write your own?

Do you really need a ready-made free retirement speech? Use the time you'd spend personalising a pre-prepared speech to write your own. Easy to follow guidelines to help create an original speech.

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Birdland School, Lusaka, Zambia

Birdland School - the story behind principal Olive Mumba's award acceptance speech

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Declamation Speech: What they are, how to choose and deliver one

A declamation speech is the term for the re-giving of a famous speech. The speaker 'lives into' the original, reproducing its power. Find out more about choosing and delivering one here.

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Interesting speech topics - finding the wow factor

Interesting speech topics - guidelines and suggestions to make your speech captivating and relevant

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Story Telling in Speeches

Do you remember storytelling from your childhood? I do. Some stories are as clear in my mind as if it were yesterday. I can remember who was telling the story, what it was about, what the actual words were and most of all how I felt listening to it. And that's the power of good storytelling. It lives on in the minds of the listener often for years and years.

No matter how old we are we can still be captivated by a story told well. That's why including stories as part of any speech you give will enhance it.

Obviously there are some guidelines to follow. It's not just any story you tell or of any length. And there are specific ways to improve your storytelling.

How to Choose What Story to Tell

Always begin with your audience. You need to know who they are, what their likes and dislikes are, to get an idea of what you can and can't tell them. The treatment or how you tell your story will vary between audiences, just as humor does.

Always fit your story to your theme or topic. Storytelling without purpose will go down like the proverbial lead balloon.

Make your storytelling personal. The audience will love you for it. Use your own experiences to poke a little fun at yourself. Exposing your fears, habits, or misunderstandings lets the audience identify with you. You stop being the remote expert and become one of them.

Here's an example.

It's a true story from my youth. I've told it to students as part of preparing them for formal interviews. It's from the what-not-to-do department. The joke lies in the double meaning of the word 'conviction'.

I am 22. I'm at my first real job interview - hair clean, best clothes, shoes polished. I've brought my CV, references and my certificates and I really want the job. I am sitting upright, listening very carefully to the questions and answering thoroughly.

Towards the end, the interviewer leans foward, fixes his eyes on mine and says quietly 'Have you any convictions?' I blush. I hadn't thought I'd be asked about those. He waits.

Taking a deep breath, I begin. 'I've got lots of convictions.' He stares but I plunge boldly on. 'Yes', I say. 'I believe in 'do unto others as you would have done to yourself'. I think it's really important to try to understand what it's like to be in anothers shoes. I also believe ...'

I never finished because the interviewer was snorting with laughter.

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Understanding the Importance of Communication Skills - 5 steps to improve face to face communication

The importance of communication skills is one of those statements difficult to disagree with. It's a truism of the same caliber as grass is green or the world is round.

We know because we've either been told, read, or witnessed that communication is a key ingredient in realizing a person's fullest potential. It doesn't matter who we are, what we do or even where we are. The importance of communication skills is still going to impact on us.

How we express ourselves matters. The dynamic dance between our expression or communication of ourselves and other people's responses to that shapes our lives for better or for worse.

Between the two extremes: being either awkwardly shy or boisterously loud, is a balance that can be learned and it's in that balanced middle ground you'll find consistently successful communication skills. And that is great news for those of us, myself included, who have to consciously work at communicating effectively.

1. Understanding the role of body language
2. Becoming aware of the effect of your habitual speaking voice
3. Learning to actively listen
4. Using good manners
5. Practicing conversational skills

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DON'T WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE ARE GOING TO THINK

My problem was what if they don't like my speech? What if I get stuck? What if I forget what I have to say? ... And then I realized; people were not there

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How is your Teacher's Voice?

A dynamic teachers voice has the power to inspire students. It is excited and passionfilled making students want to listen and learn. Is your voice tired? Find out how to easily add vocal variety.

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Don't Talk to Me in that Tone of Voice

It's not what you say but how you say it that makes the difference

A well quoted study by Albert Mehrabian Professor Emeritus of Psychology, UCLA, established that in verbal communication words, tone and body language (facial expression) needed to be in harmony or congruent before being believed.

In any sort of communication, public speaking or personal conversation, the tone of voice you use impacts on the listener ahead of the actual words.

Becoming concious of tone and its effects makes you a better communicator.

Have a play with this simple sentence: 'I like it.'
How many ways can you say it? How many different underlying messages can you convey through those three little words?
Can you make it sound as if:

• you really DO like it
• you are unsure or diffident about it
• you couldn't care less about it
• you might like it but have some reservations about it
• you actually loathe it
• you are frightened by it
• you are amused by it

This is a superb exercise to do in front of a mirror. Watch what you do as you voice the sentence with each different intention. Your face will reflect the changes of meaning. Some expressions will be more subtle than others but they'll be there and those are the cues that your listeners pick up on. They and your tone of voice will shape their response.

Click the link to find more vocal variety exercises.

Free Wedding Speeches: father of the bride, best man, groom and maid of honor speeches

Get your Wedding Speech FREE! Speechmachine and Write-Out-Loud are proud to present (free of charge for a limited time only): Father of the Bride speeches Best Man speeches Groom speeches Maid of Honor speeches We heard your calls for easily customisable almost instant wedding speeches and finally we understood. Not everybody has the time to write their own. So we got to work building a machine to allow you to put in your details and hey-presto, a couple of clicks and a few minutes later, there's your uniquely personal speech. If you'd like to have a free wedding speech NOW it's simple. Get it in next-to-no time by visiting Speechmachine What's the catch? There are no big ones and only one small one. Because we're testing, we'd like your feedback. That's all. 'And they all lived happily ever after.'

Selling yourself - conversational speaking skills

I just had a conversation with a member of a firm I wanted to join upon graduation of MBA school. Several times the woman asked me to repeat myself, and

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An Award Acceptance Speech Example

An award acceptance speech example - read and be inspired by this heartfelt award acceptance speech given by Zambian Principal Olive Mumba in Seattle 2009

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How to Read Poetry Aloud

Take the mystery out of how to read poetry aloud. If you're reading or reciting a poem as part of a speech and don't know where to begin, these tips will help you read with confidence and clarity.

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Acceptance Speeches Without Tears

Acceptance speeches:- how to write and deliver a good one. Unlike some of the most publicised, they do not have to be a long list of 'thank-you's' punctuated by tears and silence.

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I am a communications teacher who is always looking for interactive exercises to get my (often anxious) college students engaged and learning about the power of effective public speaking.

I teach a public speaking course that is the sole required communications course for many of my technically-oriented students (including chemistry, IT,

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Free Funeral Poems

Free funeral poems; a timeless cross-cultural collection of the best loved bereavement verses for your use.

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Sloppy Speech Blues

Have the pronunciation police ever pulled you over to issue a warning?

'Madam, I've been listening to you and I haven't understood a word you've said. You've left off the 't' and 'd' at the ends of words. 'I want to' blurred into 'I wanna' and I noted 4 instances where you transformed double 'tt' into 'dd'. Repeat after me, 'mutter','stutter'... I do not want to hear, 'mudder' or 'studder'. Unless you get that mouth operating properly your speech will be permanently sidelined.'

Ouch.

Does it matter?

I think it does. Sloppy speech hinders communication. Clear speech helps it. If you've prepared a speech, surely you want your audience able to understand it?

You know you've been issued a warning if you've had feedback comments imlying that you:

• mumbled
• gabbled (spoke too quickly)
• blurred or blended words together

Here's 3 tips to help banish the sloppy speech blues.

1. Listen to yourself. You'll never really know what others hear until you record yourself.
   Often what we 'think' we sound like and what we 'actually' sound like are two different things. Make sure you get a resonable chunk of speech. You want enough for the self-consciousness of 'Oh my goodness, I'm recording myself.' to have subsided so that you can hear your habitual speech patterning.
2. Practice articulation exercises. Those old-fashioned tongue twisters really do work. They'll force you to slow down and will reform habitual lazy pronunciation.
   There's a bunch of tongue twisters here.
3. SLOW down. Often sloppy speech is the result of speed wobbles. The rate that your words rocket from your mouth is exceeding your skill to control and form them properly!
   Tongue twisters will help the articulation but so too will slowing down.
   There are suggestions here to slow or vary your speaking rate.

Speech Rate - Too fast, too slow or just right.

Speech rate is measured in the number of words spoken per minute,(wpm). Find out what is a slow or fast rate of speech and how to improve communication by varying your speaking speed.

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Quick and Easy Effective Tips for Speaking Rate

Get quick and easy effective tips for speaking rate.

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Voice Health

Good voice health is essential to many professions: teachers, call-center workers, coaches...Get the facts here

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Sample Tribute Speech For My Mother

A sample tribute speech and sample tribute speech outline to help you easily write your own

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Looking for a Sample Eulogy?

Read a sample eulogy to help you with ideas & suggestions for the funeral speech you need to write. There are two here; different in style, unique, as were the people they celebrate.

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Inspirational quotations to calm, heal and comfort

Inspirational quotations from many cultures and times especially selected for use in eulogies, funeral speeches and to comfort.

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Demonstration Speeches at work

There are many situations that call for a 'show and tell' or 'how to' demonstration speech at work.
Perhaps you need to demonstrate a new software application.
Or it could be that there's been a change in an admin. process and you're required to teach staff the new one.
Your audience could range from one to many but the basics behind a good 'how to' are the same.

Here are 5 tips for a great work place demonstration speech.

1. Know what you want to teach, why and what outcome you want.
   When you are clear about what it is you are doing, why and what you expect the end result to be you will communicate that more clearly to your audience. The consequence is they will be more attentive.
2. Know your audience
   Good teaching starts with knowing who the audience is - their level current knowledge, their capacity to learn new skills, the vocabulary or language best used enabling them to understand...
3. Be prepared to adapt
   Consider your audience alongside what you want to teach. Do you need to break the new skill set or information into chunks and schedule several sessions rather than going for one large one? Is it suitable for big groups or would it be better in smaller ones or even one on one teaching? Do you need to de-mystify the vocabulary replacing jargon with plain English? Is this a show and tell session or a show and do? (Show and tell is passive. The audience watches as you go through the steps. Show and do is active. The audience goes through the steps themselves after you've shown them how.)
4. Prepare
   Go through step by step what it is you want to teach BEFORE you try to teach it. Break the information or skill set down into a logical sequential process and as you go through it explain each part of the sequence clearly as if you were really teaching.
   Consider what you need to illustrate your talk. Do you need diagrams? How big do they need to be for all the audience to see them? Do you need actual items for the audience to handle?
   As you go through your preparation from the audience's point of view you'll find out what you need and where you need it.
5. Rehearse
   Once you've got the basic outline of your speech and the props(maps, graph, diagrams, bits of equipment...) together try it out and ask for feedback on clarity, timing (too long, too short), use of props.
   What was good? What could be improved and how?
   Use the feedback to modify your presentation. Rehearsal is invaluable as it identifies problem areas before you go live with the real thing.

Find out more about giving great demonstration speeches to take the stress out of teaching new skills in the workplace. Not only will it boost your confidence and self-esteem but you'll gain in respect from your colleagues as well.

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The Freedom and Safety of Cue Cards

To cue or not to cue? That is the question.

Do you write out your full speech and read it or do you use speech outline prompts on cue cards and deliver it largely from memory?

I've done both and the experience it delivers is different.

The occasions I've used a full script have been when I've rushed through preparing my speech and haven't allowed enough time to thoroughly practice to the point of being comfortable without the word for word text. Although it's never been disasterous, (as in losing my place in my notes OR shutting out the audience entirely because I'm head down reading intently), I always knew I could have done a whole lot better.

The result is I'm for cue cards. And I'm for cue cards ahead of completely memorizing my speech too. The reason for that is if I've learnt something by rote (word for word) and have a memory blip, it's difficult without a prompt to begin again.

When I've prepared a speech well a set of good cue cards allows me to:

• interact more freely with the audience because I'm not too busy concentrating on keeping my place in a script. I can make eye contact, smile...
• be more spontaneous sounding even though I've rehearsed. The cue card outline keeps me on track but it doesn't tell me the exact phrasing to use. It can vary each time I say my speech.

If you haven't tried using cue cards, do! You'll find full instructions on how to make them by clicking the link. I promise that once you've experienced the freedom of not being slavishly tied to a script, you'll realize you've lifted your public speaking up a notch.

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